Substrate Choice

[blugil]

I'm still in the research mode for new 50 (my first startup) and the only thing I am certain of is I want some low light plants. I would like a natural looking bottom and wondered if a mixture of pea gravel and this Turface compound I keep seeing refered to would be appropriate? Can pieces of clay pots be used safely as long as the edges are smooth and is there a drawback to scattering smooth stones the size of a quarter to break things up? Thanks

 

[Zagz]

Moved to the Planted tank forum.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Really, Rocks (non epoxy coated) are quite good. I used turface MVP in my 120. At a cost up here of 14$/50lbs and it took about 65-75lbs to get a nice bed in mine(4'x2').. There is a pic in my Sig if you want to see what it looks like in a tank.. I think it's 10$/50lbs down there. But it will drive your PH down.. My PH standing is @ 6.4 and I push it down to 5.9 with Co2 (mainly tetras in the tank, and my fish don't mind a low PH..

Your tank is your playground. You can scape it however you want. rocks, slate, fake wood, real wood... It's up to you..

 

[Purrbox]

I'd definately recommend the Turface for an inexpensive and good quality substrate. It's probably going to be less expensive than the gravel, so unless you're mixing in the gravel for looks you might as well just go with 100% Turface. If you still want to mix the gravel, make sure that the Turface is at least 50% of the substrate otherwise it's really not going to do much good. As far as the gravel goes, you'll want one of the finer grained gravels about 2-3mm so that it's easier for the plants to root in it.

As far as the rocks go, you'll just want to make sure to test them to ensure that they don't alter your water chemistry. You can do this by either using some weak acids and seeing if they bubble, or soak them in a bucket for a week or more and test daily for changes in pH/KH/GH.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

i used a 80:20 mix of flourite and PFS (pool filter sand), with a bit of hard, almond colored river rock pea gravel. very nice and natural looking and the plants are loving it.

 

[blugil]

Thanks for the advice and some confirmation. When I find dist. of the Turface I'll be off and running or crawling more likely.